Abstract

This seventh yearbook of epidemiological and vital statistics is the most recent in a series of publications which, together with an earlier series of the League of Nations, furnishes international data for the years 1922 to 1954, inclusive. The Introduction points out that the quality of the data varies considerably, but that the efforts of the WHO have resulted in some recent improvements.

The data are presented in three parts: Part I, Vital Statistics and Causes of Death; Part II, Cases of and Deaths from Notifiable Diseases; Part III, Statistics of Health Personnel, Hospital Establishments, and Vaccinations.

Part I contains, in addition to some demographic data on the countries concerned, tables of general vital statistics and tables of deaths by cause, age and sex for 42 countries. There are also several special tables of death rates from selected causes, and a detailed table of infant mortality.This section differs from the corresponding section of the previous yearbook in the greater number of countries covered (42 instead of 35) and in the somewhat greater detail of the tables.